Unpaid Coast Guard members offered some relief thanks to $15 million USAA donation

Some 42,000 active-duty U.S. Coast Guard members — including 700 in San Diego — and 8,700 civilian employees may get some financial relief from the partial government shutdown after the Coast Guard, along with USAA, announced a $15 million donation to Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, a nonprofit that offers zero-interest loans to service members in need.

The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which remains unfunded during the shutdown, now in its fourth week. The rest of the military is under the Department of Defense, which remains funded.

“Today you will not be receiving your regularly scheduled mid-month paycheck,” Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the Coast Guard, wrote in a blog post Tuesday. “To the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time in our nation’s history that service members in a U.S. armed force have not been paid during a lapse in government appropriations.”

Thanks to a $15 million donation from insurance and banking behemoth USAA, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance will begin disbursing interest-free loans to active-duty and civilian workers of the Coast Guard, he said.

“I recognize the anxiety and uncertainty this situation places on you and your family, and we are working closely with service organizations on your behalf,” Schultz said.

USAA is a group of companies in San Antonio providing insurance, banking, retirement products and investment advice to about 13 million current and former members of the military.

The loans of up to $750 for single members and civilian workers and $1,000 for those with dependents are designed to cover two weeks of shortfalls, USAA said.

Retired Rear Adm. Cari Thomas, CEO of CGMA, said the organization had been prepared to take out a loan against its reserve funds when USAA stepped forward with an unsolicited donation.

“We are very, very grateful,” she said, adding that it will take a community effort to see Coast Guard members through the shutdown. “Like any Coast Guard mission, it requires a team of people to get it done.”

It marks the first missed paycheck for the Coast Guard since the government shutdown began Dec. 21. Homeland Security was able to find a one-time funding solution at the end of December to avoid a lapse in pay.

However, another payday is coming at the end of January which will affect not just current Coast Guard members and employees but also about 50,000 retirees, who also will miss a pension check.

Thomas said CGMA is working on a similar stop-gap solution but nothing is nailed down yet.

“There’s currently no way to pay the retirees,” Thomas said. “(But) it’s too early to speculate.”

There are a few ways people could help, she said.

“People can go on our website, www.cgmahq.org, and do secure online donations,” she said. Coast Guard members and employees also can apply for loans on the CGMA website.